CAF Mack Truck Contact will Happen; Oshkosh to Receive Some form of Compensation

By: David Pugliese, Defence Watch

Public Services and Procurement Canada has yet to figure out how to proceed on the troubled purchase of Standard Military Pattern trucks for the Canadian Army.

In July the Conservative government announced that Mack Defense had won the $834 million contract to provide 1,500 trucks.



But the Canadian International Trade Tribunal recently upheld a complaint from Oshkosh that the procurement was flawed. In its ruling the CITT is calling on PSPC to re-evaluate Oshkosh’s truck design. The Ottawa Citizen has reported that if that re-evaluation shows the company’s truck should have won the contract, then the CITT recommends the government compensate Oshkosh “for the profits it would have received had it been properly awarded the contract.”

There are also a number of other ways to deal with the situation, according to the CITT. But they all involve Oshkosh walking away with some cash to compensate the company for their involvement in this problem procurement.

Whatever the amount, the Department of National Defence is still proceeding on the purchase. “The Canadian International Trade Tribunal will not recommend that the contract awarded to Mack Defense LLC be cancelled,” the CITT ruling noted.

DND spokeswoman Ashley Lemire told Defence Watch that, “The Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruling is not influencing timelines on the MSVS Standard Military Pattern contract with Mack Defense. With respect to progress, National Defence has completed the first portion of the test programme, which was performed in France. We will be pursuing testing in Canada over the summer and fall of this year. In February, the Crown and Mack Defense agreed to postpone vehicle deliveries to the fall of 2017 to better align requirements verification with production. Other deliverables, such as trailers and Armoured Protection Systems, are scheduled to start delivery in the summer of 2017.”

Oshkosh wins challenge on CAF Mack Truck Contract

By: David Pugliese

U.S. defence firm Oshkosh is alleging that the Canadian government unfairly awarded a $834 million contract that would see Mack Trucks deliver vehicles, such as the one in the photo, to the Canadian Forces. Photo courtesy Mack Trucks 

Oshkosh Defense Canada, Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company, announced today that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal ruled in the firm’s favour regarding its legal challenge to the Medium Support Vehicle System’s Standard Military Pattern (SMP) contract award decision.

The CITT ruling recommends that Public Services and Procurement Canada re-evaluate Oshkosh’s bid and conduct a re-evaluation of vehicles for the project. Failing that the government could provide monetary compensation to Oshkosh.

The first of the new trucks, coming from Mack, have successfully undergone testing and are expected to be soon delivered to the Canadian Forces.

“We are pleased with CITT’s ruling, which validates our concerns and defends the fair and transparent procurement process that the Canadian Government strives to implement,” Wilson Jones, president and chief executive officer of Oshkosh Corporation, said in a statement. “Following years of work and investment, the Oshkosh team firmly believes we offered the most capable vehicle for the Department of National Defence, and overall best value for Canada. While we are disappointed in the significant errors found in the conduct of the MSVS evaluation process, we look forward to a fair and timely implementation of the Tribunal’s recommendations.”

As part of its determination, CITT recommended the following actions to the government:

Conduct a re-evaluation of the bid submitted by Oshkosh, including a physical re-evaluation of the vehicle test protocols, and/or payment of compensation to Oshkosh.
Compensate Oshkosh for its reasonable costs incurred in preparing and proceeding with the CITT complaint.

The contract, valued at $834 million, was awarded in July to Mack.

Following a four month review, the CITT in part validated Oshkosh’s claims related to procurement processes, technical compliance and testing protocols shortfalls during the MSVS SMP evaluation, the firm noted.

The Department of National Defence referred questions to Public Services and Procurement Canada. That department has yet to respond.